16 Stuiver - Siege of Maastricht

Maastricht endured two major sieges in its history, but this piece dates to the first and more catastrophic — the Spanish capture of 1579, when Alessandro Farnese's forces took the city after a brutal four-month assault. The sack that followed killed an estimated 8,000 inhabitants. Siege coinage was struck from whatever metal was at hand, authorised by the desperate municipal and garrison authorities to pay troops and maintain commerce when regular coin supply was cut off.

Copper emergency issues of this type circulated only as long as the siege lasted. Farnese entered Maastricht on June 29, 1579.